Newmarket - Day Two

EXPERIENCED contrasting fortunes in my two games today at the East Anglian Chess Union congress in Newmarket, Suffolk.

White to make his 21st move in the round-two game Spanton (1880) - Roy Hughes (2027)

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Black has a powerful bishop, but White is still in the game after a sensible move such as 21.a3 or 21.Ne5. Instead I played the horrendous …
21.Kf2??
… but RH missed winning the exchange by 21...b4 22.Na4 Ne4+.
However, 21.Kf2?? is so bad that Black is still much better after the move played in the game, viz:
21...Rac8?
To his credit, RH spotted a less-obvious combination three moves later:

Black to make his 24th  move

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24...Rxc3+! 25.bxc3 Rxc3+ 26.Rd3 Rxc2 27.Rd2 Nd5+ 28.Ke2 Rc3 (0-1, 43 moves)
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THIS afternoon I scored my first ever win - from four tries - against Roger de Coverly.

Black to make his 35th move in de Coverly (1977) - Spanton (1880)

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35...Kd7!
35...Rxe3+ 36.Kxe3 Kd7 37.Kd4 Kd6 is a simple draw, but the text gives White a chance to go wrong.
36.Rb3?
The losing move. I guess RdC rejected 36.Rxe5 because of 36...fxe5 37.Ke4?! Kd6, when the weakness of White's queenside makes it a tricky ending. But after 36.Rxe5 fxe5, White equalises with 37.g4, eg 37...Kd6 38.gxh5 gxh5 39.Ke4 - both players queen, with the engines confirming the position is drawn.
36...g5
Not the only winning move, but good enough.
37.Rb2 f5 38.Rc2 Kd6 39.h4
The engines' choice, but not enough to save the game.
39...gxh4 40.gxh4?
The engines' idea is 40.Kf4 hxg3 41.fxg3 Re4+ 42.Kxf5, but 42...Rg4 wins for Black (although I suspect most people would play on over the board).
40...Re4 41.Rc1 Rxh4 42.Re1 Rxc4 0-1